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#64160 October 8th, 2006 at 07:50 PM
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Ok I have had my farm for about 6 months now.. The question is... How do you separate the castings from the bedding?
I have them in the rubbermaid system.. I know I put the new bedding in the second container, and let them move into the new system..But how do you do the harvest?

#64161 October 9th, 2006 at 07:31 AM
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Okay, not that I'm really one to be giving advise but...

I tried putting the second container on top of the one full of worms but it squished the worms and they all tried to climb out the bottom and a few died. What I did was I picked out all the worms and tossed them in a new container with fresh bedding. I also added all the old uneaten bedding to the new stuff. The only tools I had were my hands and patience. Then I just added my 'black gold' to whatever I needed too.

#64162 October 9th, 2006 at 06:47 PM
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Sorry, Rita, I'm sure you won't like my method and this is why I wish I had got a stacking system, but I didn't know about them when I was starting out! What I do to clean my bin is dump the whole thing out on a tarp on the floor of the garage. (I guess you could do this out in the yard also, just curl up the edges of the tarp to keep the lil worms from escaping. Then I make piles with the contents, oh probably about 20 piles. If it's bright enough when you do this , the worms will go to the very bottom of each pile. The pile is like hand size in width and 6" tall. I scoop up an individual pile and pick all the worms from the bottom and toss them in to one pail. After picking through the rest of that pile for anymore worms I toss that into a different pail. I try to get some of the eggs into the worm pail too, but this job is so tedious that I usually just let them go in the compost bucket by the end.

At some point in this procedure (to break up the monotony of worm picking), I go and clean out the bin itself, hose it down, fill it up with fresh bedding, a little soil, water. I don't put any food in for a few hours or overnight to let them get settled.

I don't keep any of the food from the bin, I start the clean bin fresh. If there is anything that has not been broken down all the way left in the bin, I throw it out in the compost pile out back.

Some of the good castings (about 1/2-1 gallon) I put in a separate 5 gallon pail and add water to it for compost tea.

I hope this helps, I'm doing my bin today! :p
One really good thing about this method, is you really get to know your worms and what is going on in the bin. See if you've got alot of reproduction going on, etc. etc.

#64163 October 9th, 2006 at 07:28 PM
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Sarah Thanks for your advise I would hate to Squish my worms!
Soooo I guess this will be the messy way laugh laugh
Mel have you tried the move everything to one side? Just curious if it worked Duh
I was hoping for an easier way but they need to be in a fresh clean home!
Thanks you guys!!
Sarah did you ever get your worms to stay in the bin?

#64164 October 9th, 2006 at 09:41 PM
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Rita, I just went out and checked on the little guys. Guess what? No new dead ones!! AND there was only 2 crawling around on the sides. Woohoo! Apparently they really like a wet covering over their bedding. That wet newspaper was a godsend.

#64165 October 10th, 2006 at 02:23 AM
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Awsome Sarah!! clp Great to hear!! You must be happy!

I was going to do the cleaning of the bin today but got distracted with the kids.. :rolleyes: laugh There is always tomarrow though right! wink

#64166 October 26th, 2006 at 12:30 AM
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Ok Cleaning my bin out :p :p
What the heck do the eggs look like?? Duh
Are they the clearish amber things??

#64167 October 26th, 2006 at 04:59 AM
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I think so, at least, that is what I saved!!

#64168 October 26th, 2006 at 07:21 AM
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It's my understanding that the eggs are inside a lemon-shaped 'cocoon' containing 5-15 baby worms & they look like little pearls. When they hatch, they leave a brown shell behind. I also heard that the eggs don't hatch unless the soil is 55-60*F.

#64169 October 26th, 2006 at 07:44 AM
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Quote
Originally posted by SpringFever:
Ok Cleaning my bin out :p :p
What the heck do the eggs look like?? Duh
Are they the clearish amber things??
Yup, that sounds like the eggs. I save some, but near the end I can't even see them anymore! laugh

Here's a picture for you:

[Linked Image]

#64170 October 26th, 2006 at 07:00 PM
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OK thanks! Good thing I didn't put the compost out on the Frozen back porch then!!
There were like a bagillion eggs in there!! Sooo I guess I will be going through that again!! laugh


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